Our Turn Initiative

**THE OUR TURN SURVEY DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL JANUARY 31, 2019!**

OurTurn – University of Regina Campus Wide Survey is now open.

Current students and recent graduates of the University of Regina are invited to take part in the OurTurn Campus Wide Study on Campus Sexual Violence. The survey will be open from October 22nd to December January 31st. You can find the survey here.

In the fall of 2017, the OurTurn National Action Plan, a national, student-led movement to end sexual violence on post-secondary campuses, reviewed the University of Regina’s sexual assault policies and awarded this campus the letter grade of D. The OurTurn report identified several areas where our campus sexual assault policies fell short, you can find more information about those findings below.

In response to this report, RPIRG signed onto the OurTurn National Action Plan and committed to: 1) pass a motion acknowledging the existence of and committing to eliminate rape culture on our campus; 2) create and support an OurTurn task force on our campus; 3) hold consultation meetings; 4) conduct a student campus sexual violence survey; and finally, 5) adopt, implement, and adapt programming for prevention, support, and advocacy on our campus utilizing feedback from our campus survey and best practices put forth by the OurTurn National Action Plan.

We are joined on this project by other student groups and student resource centres who have also signed onto the OurTurn National Action Plan: UR Pride Centre, University of Regina Women’s Centre, University of Regina Students Union (URSU), and Supporting Students Against Sexual Assault (SSASA). This survey has been reviewed and received approval through the University of Regina Review Ethics Board.

We are seeking volunteers to share info about the survey in the following ways:

asking your profs to share the info or to give you a couple of minutes to tell your classes about it

sharing the into in UR Courses (especially if you are taking an online class)

volunteering to help us with a couple of tabling afternoons on campus

sharing our graphics (which you can find here and on our facebook page) with your social networks (facebook groups, student group meetings, etc.)

helping to distribute our small cards with info about and a link to the survey (available in our office! room 222 Riddell)

If you have any questions about how to help spread the word please don’t hesitate to contact Julian: outreach@rpirg.org

Lastly, if you or someone you know is seeking support or someone to talk to about sexual assault, here is a list of resources for support on campus, as well as in Regina and Saskatchewan.

The National OurTurn Report Card

In the fall of 2017, the OurTurn National Action Plan, a national, student-led, movement to end sexual violence on post-secondary campuses, reviewed the University of Regina’s sexual assault policies and awarded this campus the letter grade of D. The OurTurn report identified several areas where our campus sexual assault policies fell short including (but not limited to):

The University of Regina does not, in any official capacity, acknowledge and recognize the existence of rape culture or intersectionality or how they both contribute to our campus culture.

Administration responsible for creating and reviewing sexual violence policies on campus do not receive adequate training on consent or rape culture.

The University of Regina policy definition of sexual assault does not adequately cover all forms of sexual and gendered violence which leaves conduct like stealthing and online harassment in an administrative grey area.

The University of Regina sexual assault policy has a written ‘frivolous claims’ clause. This is a major deterrent for those who wish to report sexual violence as there is the risk of disciplinary action if an incident is hard to prove

There is nothing in the University of Regina sexual assault policy that protects survivors who are reporting an assault from having to come face to face with their assailant during the reporting and investigation process.

The University of Regina sexual assault policy does not offer protection to witnesses or survivors of sexual violence who may have been engaged in other policy infractions at the time of the assault. Sexual violence is unacceptable, no matter what the circumstance.

Now it’s (Y)Our Turn: URSU, RPIRG, SASSA, and other University of Regina campus organizations have signed onto the National OurTurn Action Plan. By doing so, each organization has officially recognized that rape culture exists and have committed to ending sexual violence on campus. To do so, a task-force of University of Regina students (supported by the signing organizations) will undertake an extensive consultation process with the student body to inform actionable recommendations for the improvement of the University of Regina’s sexual and gendered violence policies.